1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to improved storm panel installation assemblies, specifically devices for home owner installation of such panel materials or boards, during that period following a storm watch or warning, to protect window and other openings in structures from damage caused by wind and wind blown debris associated with severe storms and hurricanes and the related looting and vandalism following a storm.
2. Prior Art
Much of the damage to structures during recent hurricane seasons occurred from wind and wind blown projectiles. Tree branches, outdoor furniture, trashcans, and many other objects were hurled through the air. Broken windows allowed wind and rain access inside homes and businesses. Once the integrity of a structure has been broken, the resultant storm pressure may blow out other windows and lift roofs from the structures. This “Venturi Effect” is a special case of the Bernoulli Principle, or the reduction of pressure producing a partial vacuum. In addition to the storm damage, when evacuation is required, the home and business owners can no longer protect their breached structures from looters and vandals.
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season began Jun. 1, 2005 and lasted until Nov. 30, 2005. Unexpectedly, this became a most active season, shattering records on repeated occasions, with 27 tropical storms formed, of which a record 15 became hurricanes. The impact of the 2005 season was widespread and ruinous with recorded damages of over $100 billion and a death toll approaching 2,000 lives.
There are a number of sophisticated, commercially available systems for home and business owners to purchase, if they opt to protect their properties far in advance of the hurricane season. These effective systems are often very expensive and require substantial lead time, planning, and time-consuming installation weeks or months ahead of the storm season. A large storm protection industry exists for home and business owners able to afford such complex and expensive systems. Some systems are priced so high per window as to be uneconomical for many homeowners. These systems do not provide immediate solutions to impending damage following a storm watch or warning forecasting a storm's imminent arrival.
Current systems for plywood and plastic panel installation are often accomplished with relatively complex combinations of castings, metal extrusions, molds, machining, custom tooling and the requirement of professional installation for the majority of currently available systems.
Inventors have created several types of apparatus to install storm panels over windows. U.S. Pat. No. 6,330,768 to Rodrigues (2001) discloses a bar assembly that holds the panel against the window with a bar extending from one wall of the window to the other wall. This device is unusable in much of today's construction where windows are flush with the outside surface of the structure, lacking the necessary sills or opposing wall surfaces. The same drawback relates to many patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,422 to St. Martin (2002).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,597 to Haas (2001) discloses a system of 4 permanently mounted channels around the window, properly sized vertically and horizontally for a specific window. The need exists for a temporary system designed to be installed in the hours before a storm arrives, able to accept a wide variety of panels materials of various thicknesses, by a homeowner with average skills, after a storm warning has been issued,
U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,704 to Covington (1973) discloses aluminum extrusions shaped to receive and support a single removable plywood panel. The shape is a close tolerance to the thickness of the panel, with minimum provisions for displacement of debris, leaves, and other common airborne contaminants during periods when panels are not in place. Although this approach is effective to a substantial degree, it requires extensive tooling, machining costs and setups. The material specified is subject to salt air corrosion when exposed to coastal environments.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,738,040 to Waldin (1956), 3,516,470 to Kurz (1970), 3,528,196 to Luke (1970), 4,333,271 to DePaolo (1982), 4,384,436 to Green (1983), 4,685,261 to Seaquist (1987), 5,228,238 to Fenkell (1983), 5,487,244 to Hill (1996), 5,596,849 to Hill (1997), 5,603,190 to Sanford (1997), 5,620,037 to Apostolo (1997), 5,740,639 to Covington (1998), 5,768,833 to Golen (1998), and 5,787,642 to Coyle (1998) show various types of storm shutter attachment techniques requiring professional installation or special panels. These systems cannot be considered quick and low cost apparatus for installing a variety of whatever storm panel materials are available, often with only hours to spare before a violent storm comes ashore. In the hours before a hurricane, available materials of choice would include plywood, corrugated plastic, or common lumber.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,354 to Thompson (2000), discloses a complex system of locking mechanisms, brackets and mounts that are permanently attached to a structure. The bracketed system is not simple in nature and not suitable for installation during the hours prior to a storm making landfall.
Other disclosures of interest are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,572,764 to Rogers (1951, 2,622,285 to Ross (1952), 4,452,020 to Werner (1984), 5,335,452 to Taylor (1994), 5,347,775 to Santos (1994), 5,477,646 to Dietz (1995), 5,509,239 to Fullwood (1996), 6,393,777 to Renifrow (2002), and 6,9355,082 to Friedman (2005).
The following U.S. Patents are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,794,217 to Croft (1957), 3,968,607 to Baran (1976), 4,085,788 to Bernardo (1978), 4,590,706 to Plowman (1986), 4,671,012 to Merklinger, et al. (1987), 5,383,509 to Gaffney, et al. (1995), 5,507,118 to Brown (1996), 5,673,883 to Figueroa, Jr. (1997), 5,709,054 to McGillivray (1998), 5,833,081 to Smith (1998), 5,937,593 to White (1999), 5,943,832 to Russell (1999), 7,069,700 to Heissenberg (2006), and 7,104,015 to Huynh (2006).
Following tropical storm warnings, little time remains for home and business owners to attempt to protect window and door openings from the damage associated with severe storm winds. The most common method to attempt protection, following the warning, is to nail plywood, boards, plastic panels, or other available materials over windows and doors as a form of emergency protection. Nailing or bolting plywood over openings can create many problems. Driving nails into window frames and masonry structures causes unsightly damage to the surface. Following the storm, other problems often result from removing the panels, sometimes inducing rotting, discoloration, and other forms of damage.
Following a storm watch or warning, the demand for plywood and other types of panels is heavy at building material suppliers and big box lumber yards. The missing component during this rush for protection, is a fast and simple way to mount temporary storm panels with minimum damage to the structure. Sheets of plywood and other materials are heavy, unwieldy, and essentially impossible for one person to support and hold a sheet in place while trying to nail it to the structure, especially if the weather is deteriorating.
Prior art does not provide the missing component in this protection scenario for a simple and low cost apparatus designed specifically for home and business owners to attach and retain plywood, plastic panels, or boards to structures immediately prior to or soon after a storm warning, using available do-it-yourself home owner tools.
The panel attachment systems, heretofore known, suffer from one or more of the following disadvantages:
(a) Their fabrication requires a manufacturer capable of complex mechanical sub-assemblies, extrusions, foundry or casting capabilities, and adherence to precise tolerances.
(b) Tooling and set up costs prior to manufacturing are normally substantial.
(c) A majority of prior art devices are fabricated of metal. Coastal climates are known for corrosive salt air that will eventually cause aluminum to corrode, steel to rust, and plating to deteriorate. Stainless steel is an obvious but prohibitively expensive alternative to aluminum and other metals.
(d) Systems requiring indented window openings with sills or side walls are of no use with windows mounted flush with the outside surface of the structure.
(e) Current flexible screen systems do not claim protection against glass breakage and require permanent unattractive multiple screw sockets around the entire window frame.
(f) Some prior art examples with close tolerances may be rendered less than optimum due to the requirement for regular maintenance or refinishing in corrosive salt air coastal environments.
(g) “U” shaped channels and tracks with close tolerances are subject to the drawbacks of debris accumulation, rendering them less than optimum.
(h) Lack of provisions for securing, locking or otherwise deterring the removal of storm panels is not addressed in many prior designs.
Prior art does not address the missing component of a simple, non-corrosive, and relatively low cost method of attaching plywood or plastic storm panels for protection against the destruction of property, looting, and vandalism associated with severe tropical storms during the limited time available following a storm watch or warning.